Cookie Monster isn’t just googly-eyed, fuzzy, blue, and a lover of his namesake food item. He’s also a responsible, upstanding citizen who recorded a public service announcement (PSA) with Microsoft, to make sure people are aware of what would happen if there were a global cookie shortage.

Oh, and also how to use use parental controls on your game consoles to restrict the games your kids play, for how long they play them, and whether or not they can access the internet. He may get off-topic a bit here and there, but the message gets through with a little help from his director, seen mostly in window-reflection. Take a look:

If you are as tired of the endless horde of zombie games as I am, you are not alone! Watch as Cookie Monster — possibly the greatest network executive since Jack Donaghy — gives video game maker Tim Schafer feedback on his new game idea and then comes up with his own, starring (you guessed it) monsters.

Sesame Street have created a great little YouTube project which sees Cookie Monster and his friend Emma producing interactive science experiment games through YouTube. In this experiment called “Sink or Float?” viewers are asked to choose the items they think will sink or float in water.

It comes complete with what you’d expect from the producers of fine educational media – witty, engaging and full of great learning moments. If your kids are between 4 -8 years, show them this today!

I was convinced before watching it that this had to be a fan-made thing, but no, the video is posted on the official Sesame Street channel on YouTube. Join the Facebook group, and maybe we’ll see Macarooner and Monster Gaga on Saturday Night Live, too! Honestly, this video is funnier than at least 75% of the material on any episode of SNL I’ve seen in years.

Despite the fact that Nintendo’s entry into this round of the console wars has proven itself a rousing success with regard to sales numbers, the Wii has been saddled with an unfortunate and lingering nickname: the kiddie console. While the comparably low price-point and eschewing of high-def graphics was intended to appeal to a broader, more casual adult gaming demographic, these elements, coupled with a safety first approach to online multiplayer gaming and an abundance of E-rated titles, have given the system a distinctly younger lean than its competition from Microsoft and Sony.

While games like House of the Dead: Overkill, No More Heroes and MadWorld have appeared in an attempt to cater to the more hardcore of Wii owners, such M-rated titles always seem to flounder even despite generally favorable review scores. But on a system where non-threatening first party characters like Mario and Pikachu dominate the NPDs, Nintendo seems content despite any negativity attached to their squeaky clean image. In fact, a recent announcement from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment seems to point to the fact that the Big N is taking this to the next logical level.

This fall, a pair of titles are scheduled to hit both the Wii and Nintendo’s wildly popular handheld the DS from none other than storied purveyor of quality early childhood edutainment Sesame Workshop. Banner characters Elmo and Cookie Monster are all set to make their way once again into your living room, but this time in the form of fully interactive video games aimed squarely at the preschool set.

Since these titles are being made available on a system not specifically geared towards pre-k gamers, developer Black Lantern Studios has taken an interesting step to ensure that the controls are properly scaled to smaller, less coordinated hands. Both the Wii and DS iterations will come bundled with “gameplay helpers.” For the console versions, this comes in the form of Muppet character covers that slip over Wii-motes and minimize unnecessary buttons. For the DS, this includes a “jumbo click stylus” that simplifies interaction with the touch screen and eliminates the need for the system’s face buttons outright.

Since the games are designed for play by preschoolers, they also feature “Parent’s Pages” where we oldsters can review our kids’ progress and customize difficulty levels. The Wii titles also boast the ability for parents to drop in with a second Wii remote to help out as little ones waggle their way through the various learning activities.

My own family’s experience with dedicated children’s gaming systems have been underwhelming at best. From cartridge slots that no kid could possibly manipulate and clunky, line-of-sight, infrared wireless controllers to the almost requisite blocky, static graphics, each entry has paled in comparison to the functionality of systems we already own and enjoy. Perhaps Nintendo’s openness in bringing early childhood titles into the Wii and DS libraries represents a paradigm shift that will at last afford toddler-friendly gameplay on legitimate consoles and handhelds.

Though some will lament this as yet another example of Nintendo shifting further away from the traditional gaming audience, I prefer to see it as a true experiment in total family gaming. If a developer like Black Lantern can create quality early childhood games at a reasonable price while retaining the inherent charm of a beloved license like Sesame Street, then everything’s A-OK.

[This is a guest post by Cyrus Nemati, Web Producer, Center for Democracy and Technology]

In our guest posts here on Geekdad, we at CDT talk a lot about how Internet users need stronger privacy protections on the Internet. We even launched the Take Back Your Privacy campaign last month to encourage others to speak out if they want their privacy. The Internet does not wait for corporations or the law to catch up to its needs, though, so the tech-savvy privacy advocates among us find ways to protect themselves (even if those ways make the Internet less fun to use). Using browser plug-ins is one route you can take to secure your family’s online privacy.

What Are Browser Plug-ins?

Browser plug-ins are any sort of extension of the browser’s capability. There are plug-ins that protect privacy, plug-ins that tell you the weather, and there’s even a plug-in that makes your browser yell “Stop! Hammertime!” every time you hit the “stop” button on your browser. It’s not possible to stay 100% secure or private with a standard browser install, so I introduce plug-ins to my browser to add that capability.

Who’s Watching Us?

My three main plug-ins are NoScript, a script-blocker; Ghostery which allows me to view and block analytics tools; and Cookie Monster, a cookie-management plug-in. They reveal a very different Internet from the one most people are used to.

Let’s use a news site as an example. News sites thrive on data – not just the news of the day, but our personal data as well. Let’s hop on foxnews.com, for example.